Mining apparatus.



No. 823,960. PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906. A. MGDUUGALL. MINING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 31. 1905. JAN s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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A. MADOUGALL. MINING. APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1905 PATENTED JUNE I9', 1906.

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yin Which the ore, sand, earth, or gravel is., mixed with Water and the mixture conveyed UNITED STATES' 'PATENTv ormoni, y l,

ALEXANDER MCDUGALL OE` DLUTH. MINNESOTA.

' miams APPARATUS.

. specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' June 149-, 190e.

y Application filed January 311905. Serial No. 243,582,

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ALEXANDER. McDou- GALL, a citizen oi" the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsv Mining-Ap paratus, of'which the folle-Wing is a specilca.- tion, reference being; had therein tol the ac-V companying drawings.

My invention'relates' to improvementsy mining apparatus, and pertains to thatA class Y mine. Fig. 2 is a top plan `vievv oi Fig. 1.

l or convenient means.

yss

Fig. A3 is a sectional view 'of' the mine, showing the earth moved from' around the scoW and the scowfloating, so that it maybe conveyed varound to different parts oi the pond. Fig.

4 is a top plan view ofF-ig. 3". t Fig. 5 is! a sec# tional view showingy the mine of such a depth that it requires severalrelay-pumps to raise the `Water, sand, kand ore to the level and in which the motor o-nxtlre scow is run by the power oi the Watersupply tojthemine. Fig.

6 isa top plan view oi Fig. 5f.v Fig. 7 is a top plan view ci' a different arrangement of the reservoir in respect to the mine'and dump.

Referring new tothe drawings, A'repre- Y sents 'a small mineor pitfro-m which the material minedthrough the medium of the supply of Water. As sho-Wn, the Water the mine or pit is supplied througha pipe B,

which is in communication with a Water-supply, Which is inthe form of a reservoir and a aptedto hold a comparativelylarge quantity'oi' lWater, and this reservoir may vsupplied With Water'by a pipe C or any-suitable The saidv pipe B is provided with a pump B', Which is adapted vto force the Water into the pit or-mine With considerable force, so that the material to be mined Will be loosened, and thus the same is readilyv Withdrawn, as `hereinafter more iully described.`A The said pump B -is driven by a motorB2, which may be either an electric kor steam, and the Water forced into the pit orminenot onlyloosens the material to be mined, but itA also supplies, the mine with the desired amountl oi Water, as a certain amount. oi Water-1s being atall times drawn oil with` f the material to be mined. The pit 0T." HlilraA as shown l 2. is iiirst. made, of a l comparatively small size, as it gradually increased size bythe miningoi the matef "rial and is also deepened;- but. the depth ci the Water therein is'always lcept abouty the same,

, as hereinai'ter'- more. liully described., l then build a scow D along the side of: said pit or i A, the same, as clearly shown, being,` on

a level With'the. reservoir C andthe same beingstarte-d preferably in a iat or low piece of ground Where miner-'pals of the desired characterexist. scoW D is built very heavy,V f so that it. will support the machinery, and

when resting upon the groimd, as shown in Figs. 1j and 2, Will not be damaged by the bration of the machinery thereon when in said position. The said ScoW D is also built of a size to support the pump E. and the moy tor'F, and When'the same is floated the deck y'ofthe scoW is about four to six inches above the mater-line,V sothat the suction-.pump carz ried thereby may be readily pruned.y The suctionpump E, as shown, is located aljgacent one end of? the scoW and has connected thereto the downwardly-extending suctionpipe G, Which is. oiv such a length that the same will extend downwithin a short, dis,- d

tance ofthe bottom oi the pit or mine, and" this distancev is regulated by th@v amount of Water in thepit or mine.'

, v kThe motor F is located adjacent the oppo-k site end oi the scow to that carryingfthel pump and is adapted tod-rive the said pump., y This motor may be4 of any desired character,l "either steam, air Water, or electric,l` Whichever may be the most convenient. Cone nected to the pump E is. a exible pipe H which extends a considerable distance from `the pit'or mine, so .that the same lmay be greatly enlarged during the deepening ofthe mine..A This'pi je H leads to a dump H or other kplace an is` adapted to discharge the The Water Water and ore. froml 'the mine. from this dump is conveyed therefrom around the pit or mine yA to the pit C- by a canal l. or

other means, and thus the same Water is used over and over again Where the supply of Water is not. suilicient to.' allow fresh Water to be used altogether, thepipe H being flexible,

so that -the scoW can be readily moved around the pit or mine, and thus all parts 'of the same kOO IIO

can be freed from the ore therein.y The reservoir C at one side is provided with an overflow C2, which would carr the water off when the same has become lled to a certain point, and said overflow being at such a level that there is at all times sufficient' water in the reservoir to supply the mine with sufficient waterito run the same.

In the progress of operation the it or mine becomes larger and deeper, an thus the pump E has not power enough to force the water and ore therefrom to the dump, and in this case it is necessary to place a relay-pump K about midway between the scow and the dump and being placed upon a break formed in the wall of the pit. The said pump is operated by a motor K, which is of the same character as that of the um E in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4, and this is preflirab y of the electric type. When the pit or mine has become so dee that the pump E has not power enough to orce the ore up to the relay-pump K, another pump L is laced intermediate the pump E and pump on a ledge in the pit or mine, and said pump is driven by the motor L. In this way it will be seenthat the ore and water are pumped from the pump E on the scow to the pump L, from the pump L to the pump K, and the pump K forces it to the dump. It is understood as the pit or mine deepens the number of pumps may be increased, thus forcing the water and ore to the dump. 4

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6, instead of using other motor power lfor operating the pump E on the scow, I connect a `pipe M therewith, which has its upper end extending within the reservoir C considerably below the water-line thereof, and thus by vforce of gravity the water will flow with great force to the motor F, and thus the motor is adapted to operate the water and ore suction-pump E. The exhaust-water from the motor is so arranged that it tends to loosen the sand and ore in the same way in which this is accomplished in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

In using water as the motive power in operating the pump E on the scow there will more water enter the pit or mine than is carried off with the ore and sand, and thus the water in vthe pit would radually lill up the same, so that the pipe would not extend near enough to the ore and sand, and thus nothing but water would be excavated. In order to keep the water in the mine at the desired level, so that the suction-pipe Gwill be approximately the required distance from the ore vat the bottom of the mine, I provide a pump N on a ledge of the mine on the side adjacent the reservoir, and extending into the water is a suction-pipe n, which has its upper end-communicating with the ump, and extending from said pump to Et e reservoir is a pipe n', which conveys the water from the pump to the reservoir, and thus when the water in the pit or mine becomes too deep for the suction-pipe G to act upon the ore the pump N is operated through the medium of the motor N and continued to work as long as the water is too deep, and it will be found necessary to continue the slow running of said pump to keep the water at the desired depth, as there is more water entering through 'the pipe M than is being drawn off by the pump E, as heretofore described.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 instead of placing the supply-reservoir C on the opposite side of the mine, as shown in the first five figures, I place the same on that side of the mine on which the dump H is arranged, thus shortening the canal I and necessarily decreasing the cost of constructing the mine. In this form the pipes H, B, and C all have the same relative operation as those shown in the first six figures.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A mining apparatus comprising a mine having water therein, a scow floating therein, a suction-pump carried by the scow, a pipe leading from the pump into the water, a partly-flexible pipe leading from the pump to the dump, a reservoir receiving the water from said dump, a pipe in communication with the reservoir and the pump on the scow and ada ted to operate the pum and a pump adljacent the pit and adapte to draw the water from the mine and discharge it into the reservoir.

2. A mining apparatus comprising a mine having water therein, a scow fioating therein, a suction-pump on said scow, a motor carried by the scow for operating said pump, a suction-pipe communicating with the pump and extending into the water below the scow,`

a liexible pipe communicating with the pump on the scow and communicating with two o1 more relay-pumps between the scow and the dump, a reservoir located near the mine and the dump, a canal conveying the water from the dump to the reservoir, a pipe leading from the reservoir and discharging water to the motor on the scow for operating the same,

the exhaust-water loosening the sand and ore, a pump adjacent the water in the mine and adapted to force the water from the mine to the reservoir for kee ing the water in the mine a determined dept 3. A mining apparatus com rising a mine having water therein, a scow i oated by said water, a pump upon said scow for drawing the said ore and gravel from the mine, a number of relay-pumps, each receiving the water, ore and sand from the adjacent pump, and carrying the same to the dump, a reservoir adjacent said dump and adapted to receive the water therefrom, a water-supply for said reservoir, a pipe leading from the reservoir and adapted to operate the pump carried by IOO IIO

mine. a suction-pump mounted on said scoW,l

a motor carried y the scoW for o erating the pump, a Water-supply for sai mine and adapted to 'operate said pump and loosen the ro ore Withinthe mine, and a pump for forcing a p o portion of the Water directly from the mine,

Whereby'the water in the mine is kept at a certain depth so that the suctionump oarried by thescow may Work from t e bottom of the mine. 15 In testimonyy whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALEXANDER MGDOUGALL.

Witnesses z J OHN MONAGHAN, DONALD ,MGLENNAN 

